Chapter 4: What Harper Called About
Patrick kept his voice level.
"Do you know who she might be contacting?"
"No," Barbara said.
"But I know she didn't panic until she saw the deed."
Richard cleared his throat.
He had the careful manner of a man who was accustomed to controlling rooms and was currently failing to control this one.
"I want to be clear that Catherine and I had no knowledge of any legal documents.
We were told the property arrangement had already been discussed as a family."
"It was discussed," Caleb said.
He was looking at the floor again.
"Harper brought it up last month.
I told her I wasn't comfortable with it."
Barbara turned to her son slowly.
"You told her you weren't comfortable."
"Yes."
"And then you called me on Friday and told me the arrangement was best for everyone."
Caleb's jaw tightened.
He said nothing.
"Caleb." Barbara kept her voice steady.
"I need you to answer me.
Did you know that document was in her folder?"
A long pause.
The ceiling fan turned.
"I suspected," he said finally.
"I didn't know it was already drawn up."
The bedroom door opened.
Harper came back into the room.
Her expression had settled into something harder and more deliberate — the face she wore when she had decided how a situation was going to go.
"I've spoken to our family attorney," she said.
"His name is Gerald Marsh.
He'll be here within the hour.
I think it's best if we wait and let the professionals sort this out."
Patrick didn't blink.
"I'm happy to speak with Mr.
Marsh."
"Good." Harper set her phone on the counter.
"Because there are aspects of this situation that Barbara may not be fully aware of."
The room shifted.
Barbara felt it — the way a conversation tilts when someone introduces a threat they haven't named yet.
"What aspects?" Barbara asked.
Harper looked at her with something that might have been pity if it had contained any warmth.
"Caleb has been helping you financially for the past two years, Barbara.
The property taxes.
The maintenance fees.
The HOA.
He's been covering them quietly because he didn't want to make you feel—"
"Harper." Caleb's voice was sharp.
"—because he didn't want to make you feel like a burden." Harper finished it anyway.
"We have records.
Gerald will bring them.
It doesn't change the deed, but it does speak to the nature of the family's relationship to this property."
Barbara looked at her son.
"Is that true?"
Caleb rubbed the back of his neck.
"I helped with the HOA fees twice.
When you had that gap between pension payments.
It wasn't—it wasn't a claim on the property, Mom.
It was just—"
"It was family helping family," Barbara said quietly.
"Exactly," Harper said.
"And family sharing property is not unreasonable."
"Harper." Patrick's voice was polite and completely unmovable.
"Voluntary financial assistance between family members establishes no legal interest in property.
Your attorney will confirm this the moment he arrives, if he is worth his retainer."
Harper's eyes narrowed.
She turned to Richard.
Richard spread his hands on the table.
"I think perhaps we got ahead of ourselves with the folder."
"The folder," Catherine said from the doorway, "was Harper's idea.
I want that noted."
"Mother." Harper's voice cracked slightly on the word.
"I'm not going to sit here and pretend otherwise," Catherine said.
She walked into the room and looked at Barbara.
"I am sorry.
I didn't know about the document.
I knew Harper wanted to discuss the property, but I thought that meant a conversation.
Not paperwork."
The apology landed in the room like something dropped from a height.
Harper stared at her mother.
"You're taking her side?"
"I'm not taking sides," Catherine said.
"I'm telling the truth.
Which is apparently in short supply this morning."
The front door buzzer sounded.
Harper moved to answer it.
Patrick leaned close to Barbara and spoke quietly.
"When Gerald Marsh arrives, let me do the talking.
I know his firm.
He's thorough, but he follows the law.
This won't go the way Harper wants it to."
"She still has one move she hasn't made," Barbara murmured.
"What move?"
Before Barbara could answer, the door opened — and the man who walked through it wasn't Gerald Marsh.
It was the building manager, Tom Greer, and he was holding a printed notice in his hand, and his expression was the expression of a man who very much did not want to be present for whatever was about to happen.
"Mrs.
Weston," he said, looking at Barbara.
"I'm sorry to interrupt.
I received a formal complaint this morning from a current occupant of unit 4C." He glanced at Harper.
"Alleging that you had entered the property without permission and were disturbing the peace of the registered guests."
Barbara stared at him.
Patrick stood up straight and his hand went to the briefcase.
"Tom," Barbara said carefully.
"Who filed that complaint?"
Tom looked at the paper.
He looked at Harper.
He looked back at Barbara.
May you like
"It was filed online at seven forty-three this morning," he said.
"Before you arrived."
